John Schofield

John David Schofield (born 16 May 1965) is an English football coach and former professional footballer; he is now assistant manager to Andy Crosby at club Port Vale. As a player he was a midfielder and spent twelve seasons in the basement division of the Football League with Lincoln City, Doncaster Rovers, Mansfield Town and Hull City, making a total of 547 league and cup appearances after turning professional at the age of 23. He was named as Lincoln City's Player of the Year in 1994. Prior to this he had spells in non-League with Woolley Miners Welfare, Shepshed Charterhouse, Matlock Town and Gainsborough Trinity. Following on from his retirement, Schofield held various coaching roles back with Lincoln City, where he eventually became manager and led the club to the League Two play-offs during the 2006–07 season. He has since held a variety of different positions on the coaching staff at Scunthorpe United, Walsall, Cheltenham Town, Cambridge United, Notts County, Gillingham, Scunthorpe United, York City, Doncaster Rovers, Peterborough United and Port Vale. He also managed the Northern Ireland U21 team from 2021 to 2023. Playing career Non-League Schofield was born in Barnsley, West Riding of Yorkshire. A hard-working and combative midfielder, he began his career in non-League football, combining this with his job as an apprentice-trained motor mechanic. As a teenager, he had spent a season with Huddersfield Town's reserve team before joining Northern Counties East League side Woolley Miners Welfare. He moved up the non-League pyramid, joining first Southern League Premier Division side Shepshed Charterhouse and then Matlock Town of the Northern Premier League Premier Division. In March 1988, he joined Gainsborough Trinity, also of the Northern Premier League Premier Division.